Blog by a Belgian Flying Photographer based in Dubai (UAE) specializing in Architectural, Travel and Aviation photography

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Pic(k) of the week 27: PV-2 Harpoon Navy bomber, 1944 or 2014?

When asked what their favourite US made World War bomber is, very few Aviation Geeks, would probably name the Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon Navy bomber...

The aircraft is a direct descendant of the civil Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar; which on itself was a direct competitor to the first "real airliner" the Douglas DC-2. The PV-2, flew for the first time in 1943 and turned out to be only a mild success with 938 being built. Of these only a handful are still around today...

One of them is the aircraft in the image below, N7483C, which presently sits outside the ramp at the Chino airport, California where it is in the process of being restored. The owner seems to be the world renown vintage aircraft buyer, Kermit Weeks, of Fantasy of Flight. He had an amazing museum Northeast of Lakeland, Florida, which unfortunately closed its doors to the public a few months ago. As Kermit seems to have plans on eventually re-opening under a new formula, I sincerely hope the restoration of this great bird will go ahead as well!

The image was shot last month (so yes 2014!!!), on a brief stop while I was flying a single-engine aircraft around the LA bassin. While Chino airport was a training base for the Army Air Cadets during World War 2, literary hundreds of military aircraft were disposed at Chino after the war. Beside all of the amazing photo opportunities on the ramp, Chino also house two great aviation museums; one of them "Planes of Fame", which I blogged about here.

Back to photography; the vision I had for this image, was one that could have been made in 1944. Using Nik Analog Efex Pro 2 allowed me to simulate that old "film look", including obvious film grain, scratches and light leaks. As always, I'm interested in what "you", the reader/viewer, thinks!